Barry Smith - Learning about Learning

We had what I’d call a ‘feel good’ and ‘develoment plan’ sandwich today at our in-service day.  The development plan business was the bread and the feel good was the meat in the middle.  A nice idea, and hopefully one that we can build on.  Some of the sessions on offer were ‘an introduction to body conditioning’, ‘relaxation’, archery and learning how to make the perfect kebab(!) to name but a few. 

On the business side we were trying to establish how our develoment plan priorities had faired in the first half of the school year.  Development planning has never filled me with tremendous enthusiasm, and I don’t think I’d be alone in that feeling, although it is a vital part of what we do.  I think it is vital for all staff to be able to make a clear connection to the overriding ‘vision’ of the school to prevent it becoming just another paper exercise.   I think the ‘Tracker’ that we now use is a step in the right direction as it seems to streamline the process and gives a greater focus and clarity to tasks and responsibilities than there was previously.

However, I digress, the main reason for this post is that I’m looking for some Extreme Learning templates to use with our ALPs group if anyone has put one together yet.  I know there was talk some weeks ago of people doing it but I can’t remember who it was.   We will no doubt develop some as part of the programme but any work that people are willing to share that has already been done would be most welcome.  If you know of any please get in touch.